Big Four
The "Big Four" is a term used by historians to refer to the politically dominant powers during the First World's history, these were: the Dwarven Empire, The Brotherhood, the Men of the North and the Order of Dalmaitus. = History = The Dwarves and The Brotherhood: the return of the Old Powers Before the beginning of the First World, both the Dwarven Empire and The Brotherhood were reformed as its old members flocked to the new official TWC Server. Initially, both factions held considerable sizes, with the Dwarves reaching double-digit numbers and the Brothers' numbers rising to eight. In spite of their numbers, both factions' powers emanated from their history in previous unofficial servers. In them, both had battled each other during The Great War, gathering extensive experience from the month-long conflict, and rising their reputation as warriors on both sides. The Brotherhood set up camp near the western public portal in an area that would later be called the Brotherland. It didn't seek out to expand its diplomatic horizons, though a profitable trade relation was established with the Dwarven Empire. Nevertheless, the old animosities from The Great War still felt recent in both factions' memories and a few incidents occurred: the Dwarves blamed the Brothers for raiding their Nether farm and in a different incident, josstwc was chased from the Brotherland by armed Brothers. The Dwarven Empire started the Server by settling in the southern frozen wastes of the First World, eventually digging up the gigantic halls and the underground city of Solgrundir. The Dwarves soon started playing the diplomatic game, allying with the nations of Vroengarde and dispatching Royal's faction for threatening trade with its ally. By this point, the Dwarven Empire was seen on the server as a real major power, and probably the most diplomatically active faction, evidently seeking to establish its status as the World's major political power. Following an unprovoked raid on the chicken pens of the Dwarven Empire, in which the perpetrators left mocking signs, posing up as Goblins, the Imperial Council swiftly decided to act. Disregarding the claims of innocence proclaimed by the Goblin leader, the Dwarves declared war and quickly conquered the Goblin Lands. The Rise of the Men of the North The Men of the North were reformed after having existed on previous servers by its original leaders Abbews, Patrick and 10Greenbottles. The faction suffered its first challenge before the World even began as a group lead by Eöl and Finlanderi rebelled in protest to the autocratic government of the faction, they would eventually gather enough supporters and form the nation of The Wicked Men of the Woodlands. The Men of the North's rise to prominence on the World began with its crushing of the rebel faction during the Northmen-Wicked Men Conflicts, curbing the potential of the numerous Wicked faction, and eliminating them as a real threat and eventually even dictating Wicked policy under Northmen threat. Not long after, in the Northman-Order Wars, both the Legion and the Order of Dalmaitus were soundly defeated and effectively rose the Men of the North's status to that of the Dwarven Empire and The Brotherhood. They would, however, spare the Order of Dalmaitus any harsh peace terms, paving the way for its diplomatic approach of said faction, and the subsequent alliance with them. As world tension grew with the annexation of the Goblin Land by the Dwarven Empire, The Triad was formed by the Men of the North, the Order of Dalmaitus and The Brotherhood. The purpose of the Triad was to oppose the power bloc formed by the alliance of the Dwarven Empire, Vroengarde and the Orcs. The now polarized world was set on conflict course and it would erupt no long after the Goblin War was over, as both sides clashed in the First Northern-Dwarven War. While The Brotherhood didn't join the conflict, it was hardly missed, as the Northmen-Order alliance hastily dispatched the Dwarven allies and defeated the Imperial armies in two decisive engagements. The Men of the North's prestige was higher than ever after punishing the Dwarven Empire for annexing Gobland, and its status as a major power was recognized by everyone on the Server. Not long after, The Triad was dissolved as its purpose had been rendered void by the state of disarray of the Dwarves and their allies. The alliance with the Order would hold for a while, but the Northmen's ideology drastically opposed the Order's, and as such, after Vroengarde's Civil War, their cooperation effort during the War of the Petty Emperors and the Northmen's raid of the Monks, both factions parted ways on amicable terms. The Order of Dalmaitus' Ascendancy The Order of Dalmaitus was created from a small core of relatively new faces to the TWC servers. The faction was originally conceived under certain ideals of honor and chivalry, and as such, one can identify its rise to power as quite an accidental one. The Order initially sought to remain isolationist, it gathered around an underground cave as not even a base location had been conceived. Its unknown nature distanced itself from the forum drama and initial hostilities of the World's dawn. Eventually, the Imperial Legion contact one of its members for a possible defensive alliance, as apparently other small factions had already affiliated with the Dwarven Empire. This approach and the subsequent diplomatic visit, would set the course for the Order's collision with the Server's politics. During the Northman-Order Wars, the Order showed up potential, especially after holding the much more experienced Men of the North to a stalemate during the Battle of Pinnacle Valley. Its ultimate defeat would leave the faction crippled and homeless, momentarily vanishing any promising image shown already. The faction, however, was not to succumb to oblivion, as the Men of the North spared them any harsh terms and eventually offered an alliance to the rising nation. The Order of Dalmaitus was part of The Triad, and while never officially at war, contributed valuable manpower to the Northmen cause during the First Northern-Dwarven War. Following this event, the Order would start intervening more frequently in the World's politics, forcing a cease-fire during Vroengarde's Civil War on the new Sultanate and intervening to defend the Imperial Legion during its conflict with Etat De l'Or. Eventually, baring the quite passive Brotherhood, the alliance between it and the Men of the North became the most powerful block on the Server and as such the alliance was agreed to be dissolved. As relations between the previous allies soured up during the Egg Incident, the Order moved to a more aggressive diplomatic stance. The new Kingdom of Ascalon, lead by a former Order Knight, was allied and through it, ties were made with the new Kingdom of Scotland as well. Following their humiliation at the hands of Etat De l'Or, the Harbingers were also included among the Order's protegees. A secret pact was also signed with the Dwarven Empire, to defend each other if they were ever victims of renewed Northmen aggression. By this point, the Northmen too had secured a network of allies, having allied the aggressive Etat De l'Or and the much passive Palamaine Republic. By this point the World's pieces were set for the First Coalition War: both alliances would clash as a consequence of a minor dispute between Scotland and Etat De l'Or, which would become the Franz Ferdinand of this World. The system of alliances had finally facilitated a new conflict between the Order of Dalmaitus and the Men of the North. As the First Coalition armies were time and time again lead by Order Knights, by the end of the war, the faction's prestige had significantly increased, and by this point, it can be argued that the Order became the fourth major power. To clear any doubts, when the Prussian-Belkan alliance challenged the Order in the Belkan-Order Late Night War, it was soundly defeated by the emboldened Knights. The System's End As the Dwarven Empire's activity declined, and The Brotherhood remained quite isolated, the Men of the North and Order of Dalmaitus's animosity grew to higher degrees every time. In the especially messy Second Coalition War, an array of new and old small factions banded again to curb Etat De l'Or's aggression and, yet again, its Northern allies. This conflict would give no clear victor, no clear shifts in power, but a greatly augmented infamy to every major power involved: the Northmen were heavily criticized for aiding the war's aggressor when reparations were demanded, the Order, who had too easily joined to attack the Northmen once again, was criticized for failing to bring peace and only bandwagoning on an already compromised faction, and The Brotherhood, who might have had the best of it all, were it not for the forum cries for its intervention on a conflict that didn't concern them. By this time, the Order of Dalmaitus had become the favorite target of forum criticizing, but at least managed to end Ishkaballaa'nar's Reign of Terror. On the other hand, the Northmen had resorted to hiding in underground bases to continue their aggressive agenda and had started the Third Northern-Dwarven War against the crippled Dwarven Empire. The Order's interventions on this conflict would bring in the collapse of the Northmen as a political entity. Not long after, the Order of Dalmaitus, seeking to distance itself from the Forum's bickering changed names and became the Knights of the Risen Crown. Thus, the four-way diplomatic system came to an end, while the new Knights and The Brotherhood kept a great degree of influence the departure of the Men of the North and the Dwarven Empire from the system, destroyed its fluid dynamics and eventually would lead to bipolar diplomacy, and new polarization. Last Months' Diplomatic System The last months of the Server saw a new array of middle-sized factions rising, however, they all paled in comparison to the military capabilities of The Brotherhood. A new sense of concern arose as, finally, the Brothers entered the diplomatic game: Palamaine would ally it, the Templars would be attacked as retribution for an attack of the Brotherland, as well as the Ottomans for defacing the Sons' old quarters. The Knights of the Risen Crown, heirs to much of the Order's power would arrange an alliance to curb Brotherhood power, aligning with Byzantium and the other perceived victims of Brotherhood aggression, the board was set for The League War. The conflict, perhaps started too hastily and on weak casus belli, would polarize the server to new extremes, with eventually the PalaBro alliance defeating the League. By its end, it appeared as the server had either become pro- or against- Brotherhood, as factions such as Lathreate and the Principality of Belka joined the Brotherhood alliance on a massive diplomatic network that possibly could have never been challenged. The end of the World stopped what seemed like could have happened: a new conflict between the Brotherhood block and the Knights (now renamed Dwarves of Amgarrak), probably leading to a new set of conditions with The Brotherhood at the top of the diplomatic pyramid or as a peaceful but mighty hegemonic power, that would have lead to a stagnate political landscape. = Analysis = The First World characterized itself for a self-balancing of the political system: the formation of alliances obeyed a reaction to growing threats, and not necessarily ideological affiliations between factions. This point can be empirically demonstrated by the formation of coalitions to oppose expansionist policies: from the Northman-Order Wars, to The League War, the participating alliances were formed more out of fear than anything else, even sometimes creating common cause between radically different factions. During the Northman-Order Wars, the Men of the North provoked the first network of alliances to oppose a growing threat, while it failed to achieve its objective, it brought the Order of Dalmaitus directly into the diplomatic system as a force that mattered in the World's politics.